Box Score

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Five different Panthers finished in double-figures as the No. 3 ranked team in NAIA DII came away with an 84-68 home win over rival Cornerstone.  Davenport, which has now won all nine league games this year and 17 WHAC games in a row dating back to last season, is 19-2 on the year.  The Panthers begin the second half of the league slate with a 3-game lead against UM-Dearborn on Saturday at 3:00pm.

JaVontae Ford led a group of five Panthers in double-figures as the red-shirt sophomore finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds which were both team highs.  Four of the five starters for DU also chipped in with 15 from Lonnie Fairfax, 13 from James Nelson, 12 from James Humphrey and 10 from Damacious White.

After DU took a 4-2 lead on a Fairfax layup, the visiting Golden Eagles (12-9, 6-3 WHAC) connected on five straight points to force DU into a timeout.  The Panthers then rattled off 10 consecutive points to lead 14-7 at the 14:17 mark and they would never relinquish the lead for the remainder of the night. The margin grew to 15 in the opening half on three different occasions, with the last giving DU a 37-22 lead on a James Humphrey jumper.  DU would go into the locker room leading 48-38.

Cornerstone, which came into the game receiving votes in the latest NAIA DII Top 25 poll, quickly cut into the Davenport lead and had the margin down to just six at 51-45 but that would be as close as they would get with 16:27 remaining in the half.  DU used a 13-3 run over the next 4:03 to put the game away. 

Davenport finished the game shooting 44% from the field while holding CU to only 36%.  A big part of the victory came at the foul line as Davenport converted 19-24 from the stripe while Cornerstone was 13-25.  Other leading stat people for DU were Lonnie Fairfax with 8 assists and 3 steals. DU also forced the Golden Eagles into 18 turnovers.


Post-Game Quotes - JaVontae Ford

On getting important home win over rival: “Everyone played hard and we wanted this a little more tonight…It doesn't matter how good the other team is, when you play your rival, it's usually who wants it more and everyone on our team played very hard”

On having a 3-game lead in conference play: “We are still going to get everyone's best shot and we have to use the 3-game lead to our advantage.”

Post-Game Notes

Davenport now has a record of 50-16 over teams from state of Michigan under Burt Paddock…. Davenport is now 9-0 at the Student Center this season and has won their last 6 games….  Davenport is 19-2; 9-0 WHAC this season…. Tonight was the largest margin of victory (16) ever for Davenport over Cornerstone…. With tonight's win, Davenport is 98-23 when leading or tied at halftime.

Follow DU Athletics on Facebook | Twitter